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September-October Vol. 4 No. 5 |
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Book Reviews
IS JESUS GOD? ( Michael Morwood, Crossroads, 2001) THE UNHEALED WOUND, The Church and Human Sexuality ( Eugene Kennedy, St. Martin Press, 2001. ) Reviewed by Tom McMahon,San Jose, CA Psychologist Eugene Kennedy offers comprehensive insight into the sexual plight of the personnel of Roman church; Michael Morwood questions how an educated people can fit a newly discovered cosmology into the flat earth theories of scripture and the old Eurocentric institution. Both offer clear material with a call for dialogue; both can be appreciated by intelligent readers who have been freed from fear by Vatican Two. A righteously angry Kennedy takes his reader on an historical tour of the bleeding wounds of the institutional priesthood, using his personal story ( myth ) and that of other priests who choose integrity in place of the lies and unhealthy environment that pervades the brick and motor type clergy. Eugene hits hard, offering solutions that heal. Morwood offers a compassionate Jesus asking if we might accomplish more with the feeling life style of this par excellence model of human living; can we as followers of the Christ bring about a change in society by our living as other Christs? A priest of Jesus does not share supernatural power, only that of compassionate service. Kennedy looks at a wounded hierarchy, as they battle to deny created nature , attempting to make sensual beings into disembodied angels. Clerical power over others takes the place of being human; Kennedy traces the evaporation of this patriarchal approach, especially in the decay of the idealistic male priesthood. "This shadow church keeps itself together as an institution by investing its power in keeping its members in a frightened and dependent state." Both have a meaningful place for women in the people of God. Morwood's Jesus, truly taken from Gospel compassion stories, is a base for our renewal as a valued means to salvation in this world as bodied human beings. Both aim at saving and presenting the basic truths of Christianity to the world. We need story/myth to have people see the change. Myth is not fable; myth is the core of human living. Your story, mine , and the other person's are important. Kennedy's church is mystery, Vatican Two being a sharp contrast to the building era that followed WW2; the bishops have became power CEO's of the business of religion, counting spirituality in statistical numbers of baptized and first communion; it is like the body count during the Vietnam war that brought down Westmoreland. The spiritual life of the church is gravely wounded. Using the medieval myth ( story ) of Parzival, Arthurian Knights and the Grail King THE UNHEALED WOUND examines church history, " Pope John Paul Two bearing a wound that rises from his own view of Nature and Spirit (as) enemy camps..." Kennedy contrasts the masculine priest played by Spencer Tracy in the 1938 Boys' Town to that of the pathetic cleric in CBS's Chicago Hope in 1999. Priests have changed their own image ; male figures once known for openness and virility have collapsed in pedophilia and sexual abuse. Can the institution admit it is wounded? Today 's priest, now alien to society, is confronted with the question " what ails you?".. silence and denial... Parzival cures the king when he admits he is wounded. Recently I attended the funeral of a 36 year old mentally ill person, a homeless drug addict; the funeral was for the family, the priest immediately guaranteeing that the deceased had gone home to God, resurrected in Christ because the waters of baptism had been poured over him in infancy. All was mechanical, automated salvation, and the famous Silicon Valley computes this well, quickly dismissing the reality and getting back to the latest stock market tally. Depression from alcohol was a given; a healing here did not seem to be the mission of the church according to the mass celebrant. I assume that most priests are depressed , many dependent on alcohol. Was the deceased fighting a dysfunctional way of life? Who are the square pegs and who are the round holes and can an ailing church help? Is Jesus God invites us to the wounded early followers of Jesus who heal with the resurrected Christ; fearful and behind closed doors they discuss their wounds. Morwood raises fundamental questions about salvation before the Jesus era, Jesus dies for our sins?, revelation and evolution, Adam's fall from what?, God "raises" Jesus?, and what kind of ministry follows from being a follower of Christ. Michael brings the teachings of Jesus into the context of the modern world, asking questions dared not in the past. I caution these landmark books will not be understood by those who cling to a triumphal pre-Vatican Two image of God's kingdom on earth; both are sound contributions to healthy spiritual life. These dynamite books offer meat and possible dialogue for hungry intellectual appetites. |
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